Instead, the Celtics (33-9) came upon a Jazz (27-16) ensemble that displayed all the characteristics of a team in turmoil after dropping its two previous games.

After missing a few early notes, the Jazz spun through an out of tune performance and never caught up to the count as the Celtics turned in a commanding 110-86 victory at TD Garden Friday night.

“They showed us what basketball is like tonight,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. “They came out and played a terrific game.”

Forward Kevin Garnett led the Celtics with 21 points on 7-for-10 shooting, while Paul Pierce added 20 points. Glen Davis had 15 points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench.

Guard Earl Watson paced Utah with 12 points.

The game was supposed to pit point guards Rajon Rondo and Deron Williams in a head-to-head battle for coastal supremacy among young point guards. But like the main event, Rondo quickly got him on the ropes and never let him off.

Prior to the game, Rondo sat at his locker room stall, eyes locked on the film playing of Williams on the TV, looking for anything that might give him an edge.

Apparently he found it. Rondo baited Williams into committing a pair of personal fouls that sent him to the bench 3 minutes, 42 seconds into the game.

“That’s typical Rondo, man,” Garnett said. “Rondo’s one of the bigger students of the game on our team.”

With Williams on the bench, Utah’s offense stalled while the Celtics went on a 16-3 run and took a 29-13 lead, giving them enough cushion for the rest of the night.

"We've been thinking about execution staring off games," guard Ray Allen said. "Our fourth quarter execution has been great, but starting off game,; moving the ball around, that's the most important thing."

Williams found his way back onto the court to start the second, but Davis drew a charge that sent the point guard back to the sidelines at the 6:56 mark.

The point guards spent extended time against each other in the third quarter, but by then things were slanted all the way in Rondo’s favor.

Rondo drove and dished his way to two points and seven assists during the time Williams was on the floor, while Williams sat back on the perimeter and settled for a bucket and four assists.

“If I could have just gotten a chance, maybe I could have done something,” Williams said. “But I didn’t have a rhythm early, two quick fouls, two quick calls, I should say – took me out of the game and I couldn’t recover.”

Rondo finished with four points, 12 assists and five rebounds, while Williams scored five points and handed out six assists.

The Celtics never slowed down after that first quarter and led by as many as 25 points in the third, with the key being their strong ball movement.